Law and Welsh (LLB)

You will primarily be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials and seminars, although your Welsh modules will also offer the opportunity for workshops and language classes.

Lectures take a range of forms but generally provide a broad structure for each subject, introduce key concepts, and convey relevant up-to-date information. You will also have access to recorded versions of Law lectures.

In tutorials and seminars you will have the opportunity to discuss particular themes or topics, to consolidate and get feedback on your individual learning and to develop skills in oral presentation. Communication skills are developed in tutorials, where you will make individual contributions to group study, for example by summarising a particular judgment or article for the group.

You will practise and develop legal, intellectual and presentational skills by participating in diverse learning activities, such as solving legal problems, small-group discussions, debates, moots, oral presentations, independent research tasks and written assignments.  You will also enhance your team-working skills.

How will I be supported?

You will be allocated  personal tutors who will help you reflect on your performance on the course and advise you on study techniques, module selection and career planning (in conjunction with the University’s Career Service). They will also provide a first point of contact if you experience any difficulties.

An extensive programme of careers lectures and workshops is delivered within the School and a Law Careers Consultant is available.

A range of staff are available to provide further support, including an academic support tutor, a pro-bono scheme co-ordinator and specialist law librarians. A member of academic staff acts as a designated Disability and Diversity Officer and ensures that reasonable adjustments are made for students with disabilities.

All modules make extensive use of the University’s Virtual Learning Environment, Learning Central, where you can access discussion forums and find course materials including recordings of lectures, links to related materials, multiple-choice tests, past exam papers and examples of student work from previous years.

We’ll provide you with frequent feedback on your work. This comes in a variety of formats including oral feedback during tutorials, personalised feedback on written work, feedback lectures, generic written feedback and feedback on tutorial performance.

How will I be assessed?

Modules are assessed through examination or coursework or by a combination of the two. The format of coursework varies encompassing standard essays, extended essays, portfolios of work produced across a whole academic year and written solutions to legal problems. Examinations take place in January or in the summer.  Coursework is submitted on designated dates during the academic year. 

During the academic year, you will complete various pieces of work which do not count towards your final module mark but are designed to help you to achieve the learning outcomes for your modules and to prepare for your examinations and coursework. This work might be written or oral and may be submitted formally to a tutor or presented during tutorials or seminars. This work will normally be done during your independent study time. Feedback on this work is given frequently and in a wide variety of formats and is intended to help you identify strengths and weaknesses in your learning, as well as give indications of how you might improve in your performance in examinations and coursework.

What skills will I practise and develop?

A law degree develops your ability to organise facts and ideas in a systematic way, identifying relevant information and evaluating these to formulate advice for a client or a legal argument.

You will also:

• enhance your ability to argue in an objective, reasoned, professional manner, with due regard to authority and acceptable citation methods
• develop your ability to undertake independent learning and effectively manage your time
• enhance your team-working skills, contributing constructively and reliably
• develop your communication skills in English and Welsh, both orally and in writing
• learn how to use subject specific electronic sources, databases and the Virtual Learning Environment to gather evidence and to research legal questions.

Other information

Cardiff Law School Pro Bono Unit – Law in the Real World

We are committed to extending extracurricular opportunities to our students, helping to enhance their CVs in a competitive graduate job market. We work in partnership with lawyers, charities and voluntary organisations to give students the opportunity to practise and extend their skills.

Pro Bono is the term that lawyers use for free legal advice. We run several Pro Bono schemes and provide advice to members of the community on different legal issues.

Innocence Project

Our Innocence Project works with long-term prisoners maintaining their innocence of serious crimes such as murder, serious assault and sexual offences. The aim is to prevent miscarriages of justice in which an individual could have been wrongfully convicted.

In 2014, ours was the first Innocence Project in the UK to have a conviction overturned by the Court of Appeal.

Students work under the supervision of qualified barristers, investigating the cases and submitting them to the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

NHS Continuing Healthcare Scheme

Under this scheme, we address the issue of NHS Continuing Health Care funding. This is an increasing problem nationwide which affects a vulnerable section of the community, predominantly those suffering from Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Such individuals may find themselves in nursing homes, paying their fees privately, where arguably they are entitled to have the cost of their care met in full by the NHS.

Students are trained in this niche area of law, and are allocated work in 'firms' of six students. They are supervised by legal professionals from Hugh James solicitors in Cardiff, and work involves client interviews, letter writing, and research.

Welsh Rugby Union Project

Working in partnership with the Welsh Rugby Union, students provide a free legal advice service to Welsh rugby clubs below the Principality Premiership. Legal issues faced by clubs include employment of staff, maintenance of the grounds, health and safety and much more.

The scheme is supported and underwritten by Hugh James solicitors, and Civitas barristers' chambers. Students also work collaboratively to produce information leaflets covering legal issues that clubs face.

Cerebra Legal Entitlements Research Project

Students working on this project research the law relating to disabled children and provide advice to families of disabled children facing disputes over their health and social care entitlements.

The research project was set up in conjunction with international children's charity Cerebra, who refer cases to the project. Students are supervised by Law School staff and the work is underwritten by practising solicitors.

Hafal Appropriate Adult Scheme

Hafal is Wales' leading mental health charity. Hafal train students to work as 'Appropriate Adults', to support vulnerable adults being interviewed at a police station having been arrested. Once trained, students volunteer to be on a rota to be called into police stations across South Wales.

The Personal Support Unit

The Personal Support Unit (PSU) supports litigants in person, witnesses, victims, their family members and supporters. It provides free, confidential, independent, non-legal support to clients, to help them through the court process. The PSU trains students to assist litigants at the Civil Justice Centre in Cardiff.